Three Little Maids from School
by Cke1st
Summary: If you ever reached the end of "Dragonsinger" and wondered what happened to the other paying students in the Harper Hall, then this story is for you. The title is a song from "The Mikado" by Gilbert & Sullivan. Rated K-plus; the language is all K.


**Three Little Maids from School**

_A/N-  
If you ever reached the end of "Dragonsinger" and wondered what happened to the other paying students in the Harper Hall, then this story is for you. The title is a song from "The Mikado" by Gilbert & Sullivan. Rated K-plus; the language is all K._

**o**

As the dragon circled slowly down toward Southern Boll Hold, its rider was having trouble breathing. There was nothing wrong with his lungs, or with the air around them. The problem was his passenger sitting in front of him, who had turned herself around and locked her arms around him in a death grip.

"You can let go now," he urged her. When she didn't respond, he added, "Please!"

"It's over?" Pona whimpered.

"It's over," he reassured her. "Please relax and face forward, so I can see properly." When she continued to look distressed, he added, "It's normal for people to be shook up by their first trip _between._"

_But it is not normal for people to lose control of their bodily functions,_ his dragon added with a hint of distaste. _Why is she so afraid? All we did was to go between._

The rider comforted his dragon mentally so the girl couldn't hear them, and promised him that he could wash himself in the ocean before they flew back to Fort Weyr. Then he pointed downward. "Look, Pona! Your family is coming to greet you!" They glided down and landed just outside the great Hold. Lord Sangel of Southern Boll rode out on a white runnerbeast to meet them. The girl's father, Sandoller, rode just behind them, and a servant drove a small four-wheeled carriage for the girl to ride. They waited until she was helped down by the dragonrider before they closed to speaking distance. They did not look happy.

"We weren't expecting you until your learning term ended, Pona," Sandoller said flatly. "Why are you back so soon?"

"Was there trouble?" Sangel added.

"Oh, Father, Grandfather, you have no idea!" the girl burst out. "They sent a tunnel-snake of a girl into our cot! A nasty, spiteful, rank-obsessed, midden-scraping little backstabber! She ruined everything!"

"That's odd," Lord Sangel thought out loud. "The Masterharper is usually a good judge of character when he accepts paying students. What did this girl do?"

"She upset all our arrangements by bringing her little _pets_ along," Pona began with distaste. "She wouldn't follow any of the rules where we were living. Her clothes were dirty and worn-out. She made us look bad in front of our teachers. And when I tried to set her straight, she accused me of lying about her!"

"So why did they send _you_ back instead of her?" Sangel demanded.

"They believed her lies instead of mine!" she blurted out. "I mean, they believed her lies and they wouldn't believe me, even though Benis backed me up!"

"Who's Benis?" her father asked suspiciously.

"Oh, he's one of Lord Groghe's sons. He's a wonderful young man, just amazing! He's handsome, and he's got muscles, and -"

"And he's not the man we're arranging for you to marry," Sandoller cut her off, "so there's no use in pursuing that relationship any further." He wrinkled his nose. "What's that foul smell?"

Pona leaned toward him and whispered, "I need to change my clothes. It's the dragon's fault."

He looked at her in shock. The dragonrider hadn't heard what she said, but tried to explain, "Some people don't handle their first dragon flight well."

Both men backed off a step. "I thought that being given a dragon ride was a mark of honor!" Sangel exclaimed. "You've managed to dishonor even that, child! Now tell me, in detail, why you're here and not in the Harper Hall, which is where I paid a great deal to send you for the year."

"Can I explain it later?" she begged. "It's... embarrassing."

Lord Sangel turned to the dragonrider. "Can you shed any light on this mystery?"

"I don't know anything about this," the man admitted, "but I was given a personal message from the Masterharper to give to you, Lord Sangel. Maybe it holds the answers to some of your questions." He pulled a roll of a thin white material out of a leather tube on his dragon's harness and formally handed it to the Lord Holder.

"What is this stuff?" Sangel was unfamiliar with paper.

"It's made out of wood somehow," the rider explained. "The Harpers use it for copying Records. I don't know much more than that."

"Well, thank you for the message," Sangel nodded curtly. "Feel free to rest a while and grab a meal before you go."

"Thank you kindly, Lord Sangel," the rider nodded. "We'll do that." He bounded back onto his dragon and they headed for the fields where the livestock were kept.

Sangel made a sour face. "I meant him, not his beast! That dragon will probably eat my best breeding stock like it was nothing but yesterday's meatrolls. Well, there's nothing to be done about it now. Let's all return to the Hold. I'll read the Harper's message and then we'll figure out what happens next." They rode back in silence, with Pona in the carriage and the two horsemen staying upwind of her. Sangel read the note as he rode. He scowled and read it again. He passed it over to Sandoller. Both of them were scowling as they reached the gates of the Hold.

"Pona, go change your clothes and bathe," her father ordered. "Then we're going to have a little talk, I think."

Pona quailed. "I don't know what's in that message, but half the lies they tell about me aren't true!"

"We're going to talk about the other half," Sandoller said harshly. "On your way, now!" She left at an undignified run. The two men found a quiet place to discuss the message from Harper Hall.

"Do you think Robinton is telling the truth?" Sandoller began.

"The man could benefit from showing more respect for the Holders," Sangel replied, "but he's no liar. If he says Pona bore false witness against a Harper apprentice and started a fight at a Gather, then I have to believe him."

"That's not the Pona I know," her father said. "Maybe she was badly influenced by one of the other girls at the Hall."

"Now that's a possibility," Sangel said, brightening slightly. "I always liked Pona and I want to believe the best about her, but anyone can be turned the wrong way by peer pressure. If that's the case, then she needs to grow some backbone so she'll be a leader, not a follower."

"We've both done our best with her," Sandoller nodded. "Robinton says she needs discipline; maybe that's what he meant. Is there a place we can send her for a while? Someplace that builds character and inner strength better than the Harper Hall did?"

"Yes... yes, I think there is," Sangel said slowly. "She's a bit old for fostering, but not too old. With your consent, I'd like to send her to a place that will build her character so something like this will never happen again."

"You have my wholehearted consent," Sandoller said. "Where do you mean to send her?"

"I was talking with Masterfisher Idarolan a while ago," Sangel said absently. "He says there's nothing like a life on the sea to make a man out of a boy. Perhaps we can make a proper woman out of a girl that way. Now, what was the name of that place he was talking about? Oh, yes, Half-Circle Sea Hold. It's part of Nerat, and Idarolan says it's a no-nonsense place. If she spent a year there, it should make quite a difference in Pona's outlook on life."

"I don't want a repeat of this episode," her father said firmly. "Make it a year and a half."

**o**

"Welcome home, Briala!" her father smiled. "I trust you had a good year at the Harper Hall?"

"I guess so," she said noncommittally.

"You guess so? Briala, I paid full marks to send you to Harper Hall for the year! You were supposed to get an education and widen your social contacts. I expect a better return on my investment than, 'I guess so.' Talk to me. What happened? Did you learn some decent musical skills?"

She started to say, "I guess so," again, but thought better of it. "I did my best. They say I'm a better singer than a musician."

"I think we already knew that," her father said. "What about friends? Did you meet anyone interesting?"

"Well, I met a nice girl named Pona, who's related to Lord Sangel of Southern Boll, but she got in trouble and they sent her home. She was -"

"That's some serious kind of trouble," her father observed. "What did she do? Did she flirt with a married man?"

"No, she picked a fight with a girl named Menolly, and the Masterharper took Menolly's side. I don't know why; Menolly was nothing but a troublemaker and we all knew it, even old Dunca who kept our cot for us. I guess the Harper Hall is full of cliques and factions, and you have to pick the right friends or you'll spend your time on the outside, looking in."

"At least you stayed out of trouble yourself," her father said approvingly. "If it's as bad as you say, then you did well to keep your nose clean. Did you make any other friends there?"

Briala hesitated. She'd had several friends at the Hall, but after Pona was sent away, they had all deserted her, one by one, to join Menolly's clique instead. They'd betrayed her in exchange for some free music lessons from that skinny fire-lizard collector from the back of nowhere! Briala probably could have joined them if she'd wanted to - that Menolly didn't seem to know much about grudges and vendettas - but she valued her independence more than she wanted to become a better singer. She'd wound up on her own for the last few weeks of the term, while all the other girls laughed and sang and swapped stories with Menolly, who had somehow become a journeyman. Briala knew how it felt to be on the outside, looking in.

"Yes, there are a few girls I got to know better," she finally said.

"Good!" her father nodded enthusiastically. "Now, I've got some great news for you. While you were away, I've done some discreet looking-around among the Lord Holders' sons, and I've picked out a wonderful young man for you to marry!"

"Oh," she said. That wasn't the kind of news she was hoping for.

"Don't bowl me over with excitement!" he snapped. "This will be a good marriage for both sides of the family, and I'm sure you'll learn to love him, eventually. He's a son of Lord Groghe of Fort Hold. His name is Benis."

_"Benis?!"_ she burst out. "That boy-child? He's barely even a man!"

"You know him?" her father asked suspiciously.

"Pona was seeing him, so I got to know him a little," she admitted. "I don't know if she's still seeing him or not, and if I marry Pona's boyfriend, that will be the end of my friendship with her. He looks nice, but he's not very manly. A girl punched him in the face and gave him a black eye."

"A _girl_ punched him?" Her father was aghast. "Maybe I didn't make such a good choice after all. Oh, well. I've made the agreement with Lord Groghe and clasped hands on it, so the marriage is going to happen, no matter what. He's the son of a Lord Holder, so he can't be all bad. The wedding will be a little over a year from now. Maybe that's enough time for him to learn how to be a man."

Briala tried to hide her dismay. Her time at the Harper Hall had seemed like a waste. Now it was looking like a total disaster.

**o**

"Audiva!" Her father ran to meet her halfway.

"Father!" she burst out as she embraced him. "I've missed you!"

"I missed you too, sweetie," he smiled, and stepped aside so his wife could hug their daughter. "We're glad you're home! Now tell us everything."

"That could take a while," she admitted. They began walking back to their Crafthall. "I've learned so much, I made some new friends... it was wonderful! Thank you so much for sending me there."

"So you like the life of a Harper, hmm?" he asked knowingly. That set her back a moment.

"Yes, I think I'd love that life, but I don't think I have enough talent for it," she admitted. "I've gotten a lot better, especially at my gitar playing, but none of the Harpers was inviting me to become an apprentice, or anything like that."

"That's all right," her father nodded. "I had something different in mind. Tell me, did you meet any nice boys while you were at the Harper Hall?"

That was a sore spot. Her face fell. "At the Hall? No. I did meet a very nice boy when we spent time in Fort Hold, though. His name is Viderian, and he's a sea-holder, fostering in Fort. We had to break up just before I left the Hall. He said his parents have picked out a wife for him from Tillek, so we don't have any future together."

"I'm sorry to hear that, dear," her mother said sympathetically.

Her father smiled broadly. "I've got some news that might help to cheer you up."

"Can't you wait until we get home?" her mother asked him. "She just got back after a year away in a strange place! Let the poor girl get settled first!"

"Now I'm curious," Audiva admitted. "Father, what's your big news?"

"Viderian isn't the only one whose parents have been busy," he smiled. "Maybe you aren't Harper material, but do you think you might be Harper's-wife material?"

"A Harper's wife?" she asked blankly. None of the boys in the Hall had shown any special interest in her. Who...?

"I'm reliably informed, through a friend of a friend," he went on, "that a very talented and rather handsome young man is being recalled from a distant post to spend some more time in the Harper Hall. Apparently, it's a rough posting with only one Harper at a time, and the Masterharper doesn't want to leave anyone there for too long, so they don't go sour on life. His name is Elgion, and he's returning from Half-Circle Sea Hold in a week or so."

"You know we won't force you to marry anybody," her mother added, "but are you willing to meet this young man and see if you might like each other?"

Audiva thought fast. This Elgion was from Half-Circle Sea Hold? Menolly was from Half-Circle, and she'd told Audiva some horror stories about life there. On the other hand, Menolly had turned out quite well - she was kind-hearted, generous, and extremely talented. If Half-Circle could produce someone like Menolly... and then she considered what it might be like to be married to a Harper. She would have music in her home at all times. She could play with him, sing with him, and even learn from him. Her father said he was handsome. It might be the perfect life for her.

"Yes, Father, Mother, I'd be glad to meet this Elgion," she nodded with a smile. "He sounds nice. But what I really want right now is a home-cooked meal."

"Let's go get one, then," her father agreed.

_The End_


End file.
